This is the single most effective policy to lower emissions while enabling the economy to transition to a cleaner and greener energy future. It uses the market to reorganize human endeavor, to seriously lower greenhouse emissions, while creating opportunity for millions of people to do the important transition work! It strengthens the divestment work, by making divestment the best financial as well as moral choice. It strengthens renewable energy efforts, as well as making coal and fracked gas less viable. We need this as part of the solution! It is working in British Columbia and Ireland already, with proven track records! Let us do this right, for the Earth and for the humans!
We need to be sure that:
* the carbon tax is high enough to make a difference
* the revenue goes to lower taxes on work, to create jobs
* fracked gas is charged on leaked methane as well as carbon dioxide
With these three basics, a carbon tax will help to transition our economy into a healthy future!

Australia should set an international example by implementing the plan designed and fully costed by Beyond Zero Emissions environmental organisation and The University of Melbourne Energy Research Institute.
In the absence of any agreed plan to rapidly phase out the burning of fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions are set to go on increasing for decades. This will prevent any chance of restricting global temperature rise to two degrees Celsius.
As James Hansen of NASA bluntly states "The target that has been talked about in international negotiations for two degrees of warming is actually a prescription for long-term disaster." The current Australian target of 5% reduction of emissions by 2020 is dangerously inadequate. A target of 40-60% by 2030 is needed and may still be within reach if we begin construction of a national renewable energy grid over a ten year time frame without more loss of time.
With accelerating release of methane from permafrost and the ocean floor, a positive feedback effect we could do nothing to slow could lead to runaway and irreversible warming, causing temperature rises of three to four degrees or more above pre-industrial. This would be disastrous for all life on the planet. We must stop burning fossil fuels. A national and international wind and solar transition scheme is urgently needed, technically achievable, and humanly possible.
Ref: Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan – http://bze.org.au/
I believe Australia’s great resource of sunlight should be the opportunity for the country to lead the world in exploiting this renewable energy. – David Suzuki
“The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean-energy future.” - Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, June 2010
Image: SOLUCAR PS10 afloresm

Pakistan is contributing very little to the greenhouse gas emissions, but is getting severely impacted by the disastrous impacts of climate change. Additionally, it is going through a worst energy crisis, which requires an urgent solution. Developing new power generation plants based on non-renewable energy resources can put a long term economic pressure on Pakistan. With reasonable supply of solar radiation in Lahore, solar technology can provide an easy and cost effective solution to a population of almost 10 million. However, due to lack of knowledge about this clean power source and poor marketing strategies used by the solar companies, few households from upper class of the city are benefiting from it.
University of the Punjab is Asia's largest and one of the oldest educational institutions of Pakistan. Shifting the whole campus to solar energy can motivate youth and middle class of the city to adopt this technology. This petition will be presented to the Vice Chancellor of the university to advise him to convert energy supply of the street lights in Quaid-e-Azam Campus to solar power. This will not only reduce dependency of the university on fossil fuels but will also protect environment.
Enthusiastic volunteers of Pakistan Sustainability Network from University of the Punjab and other universities of Lahore have taken the task to ask the VC of the university to take this green initiative. The organization stresses that rather than looking towards the Government, we must take steps to conserve our environment. So are you with PSN?

In order to avert 2°C global temperature rise, 80% of known fossil fuel reserves need to be kept in the ground. That's the only way we're avoid catastrophic climate change. The business model of fossil fuel corporations is to burn more coal, gas, and oil every year, which ends up in the atmosphere. There business model is at odds with the math of climate name. As a global society, we need to stop subsidizing this world-altering activity.

The year of 2013 has witnessed 3 MAJOR STRIKES on the climate front.
ONE - passing the mark of 400 parts per million of atmospheric carbon, in MAY 2013.
TWO - a study was released in AUGUST 2013, revealing the fastest acceleration yet, of acidification in the ocean, marking ten times the norm, which was substantiated by a Columbia Univ study in March 2012, indicating the pace of ocean acidification has no parallel in 300 million years.
THREE - at the writing of this petition, a major city - San Francisco - is currently threatened by wildfire, potentially shutting down its water and power supply - AUGUST 2013. World cities are showing constant threat now from wildfire, floods and hurricanes.

The climate is changing before our eyes. Almost every government in the world has agreed that any warming above a 2°C (3.6°F) rise would be unsafe, risking catastrophic feedback cycles and a planet potentially incompatible with human civilization. If we are are to keep climate change below 2°, we must keep 80% of known fossil fuel reserves under ground.
Yet fossil fuel companies continue to develop existing reserves at an alarming rate, while spending billions of dollars of public money each year to find more fossil fuels. If we continue along this trajectory, the world is on track to burn five times as much fossil fuel as is considered "safe" by conservative estimates.
It's time for public financial institutions such as the EBRD, to end their support for fossil fuel extraction and development. EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard recently called on the EBRD, EIB, and the World Bank -- which have a combined annual lending pot of €130 billion -- to end support for fossil fuels in their energy lending policy reviews.

The last mile mobility should not be by Fossil Fuel powered vehicles. The rate of growth of cars and 2 wheelers powered by petroleum products is contributing to the dangerous raise of green house gases and fast raise of global temperatures. More immediate effect is urban heat Islands that is making life in cities unbearable during summer months. So a shit to pedal power and walking is to be encouraged by design of the roads.

The BBC has a responsibility to licence fee payers to report items of interest to the general public. Arguably, the single most important newsworthy item both now, and into the foreseeable future, is global warming and climate change.
Now, more than ever, national -- and international -- education on the facts of human-induced climate change is ever more relevant for informed debate on action. The BBC is perfectly placed to take a leadership role in this important area.
Featuring a climate change report in the BBC's standard programming schedule would be immensely useful in counteracting the ongoing, and very damaging, effects of myths and misinformation.

The Philippines is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change. Three of the top 10 vulnerable Asian cities to sea-level rise are in the Philippines (http://www.cgdev.org/files/1422836_file_Future_Storm_Surge_Disasters_FINAL.pdf), and in 2011, the country had the highest mortality rates in climate-related disasters in the whole world (http://germanwatch.org/fr/download/7170.pdf).
It is widely known that the global energy sector, which has widely depended upon highly polluting sources including coal, has been largely responsible for carbon emissions and human-made climate change. While highly industrialized nations have contributed to the bulk of emissions, developing countries such as the Philippines are the most impacted. At the local level, dirty energy sources such as coal-fired power plants are responsible for causing high levels of pollution and consuming large amounts of natural resources in the communities where they are located, causing health and environmental problems. It is imperative that we stop relying on dirty energy and begin looking at clean energy sources for the country's energy needs.
During his campaign three years ago, President Aquino boldly declared his commitment to protect the environment and promote renewable energy sources. However, after completing half of his term, the reality does not mirror his promises.
PROMISES
* From his Social Contract with the Filipino People: President Aquino promised to go "from a government obsessed with exploiting the country for immediate gains to the detriment of its environment to a government that will encourage sustainable use of resources to benefit the present and future generations." http://www.gov.ph/about/gov/exec/bsaiii/platform-of-government/
* From a press released issued by his office on 21 April 2010: "Through strict enforcement of existing environmental laws like the Clean Air, Water, and Solid Waste Acts, coupled with sound mechanisms to ensure compliance, an Aquino administration believes that the Philippines can become more climate-change adaptive." http://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2010/0421_aquino2.asp
* From his speech at the launch of the National Renewable Energy Program: "We want to pave the way for the maturity of our renewable energy sources such that we can provide predictable, affordable, and fair electricity pricing for each and every Filipino." http://www.gov.ph/2011/06/14/speech-of-president-aquino-at-the-launch-of-the-national-renewable-energy-program-june-14-2011/
REALITY
* The Department of Energy (DOE) "has approved at least 16 coal projects nationwide...that far exceeds the aggregate number of coal projects approved by previous administrations." http://www.visayandailystar.com/2012/July/23/people.htm
* These coal-fired power plant projects were approved with the full knowledge that power generation, the majority of which comes from highly polluting energy sources including coal and petroleum, contributes 41.8% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the Philippines. http://www2.doe.gov.ph/statistics/PhilippineEnergySituationer.htm
* In spite of President Aquino's public commitment to promoting renewable energy, the DOE "has awarded 313 renewable energy service contracts but to this day, not one has been developed." http://opinion.inquirer.net/39652/aquinos-moral-imperative
At his State of the Nation Address on 22 July 2013, Pres. Aquino demonstrated his support of dirty energy and lack of understanding of renewable energy.
"We also want more power plants built in other parts of the Philippines...The [coal-fired power] plant in Redondo, Zambales, is a good example. A TRO was issued against the plant because of the argument that renewable energy is better. Did they happen to mention that renewable energy is also more expensive—from the cost of building the plants to the eventual price of energy? Did they mention that it cannot provide the baseload—the capacity required to make sure brownouts do not occur?" (http://www.gov.ph/2013/07/22/english-benigno-s-aquino-iii-fourth-state-of-the-nation-address-july-22-2013/)
We know that 100% renewable energy is possible. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=a-path-to-sustainable-energy-by-2030
We want to let Pres. Aquino know there are scientifically sound solutions to bring 100% clean, indigenous, and nationalized energy to the Philippines.
* Complementary RE mix
* Energy storage facilities and smart grids (http://www.energyforall.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Workshop-on-Energy-Storage-Guide-to-Presentations.pdf)
* Policy measures in energy efficiency and conservation
* Applying new technologies to combined energy use
We want Pres. Aquino to use these solutions to help avert the climate crisis in the Philippines and the world.

Recycling is of utmost importance because, if done properly, economy and the environment grow more quickly when grown together as illustrated below:
1-a) Smaller negative environmental impact with regards to: water(one of the major renewables) being polluted by landfills via batteries, mercury, lead and other hazardous chemicals from companies and agriculture. Proper methods of disposal in combination with recycling leads to a great creation of jobs and better health for the citizens; for example: more fishermen and women catch healthier fishes in a more widespread area, recycling hazardous waste prevents it from going into the landfill where it seeps into the ground and damages the local ecosystem and water supply.
1-b) Smaller negative environmental impact with regards to:
the action of recycling substantially cuts back on logging and mining(e.g less raw materials required in producing glass) which are destructive to wildlife habitats. In turn illegal quarrying in our twin islands will be more easily curbed.
1-c) Smaller negative environmental impact with regards to: Straight out of the mouth of the National Recycling Coalition, “When one ton of steel is recycled, 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone are conserved.” which means that importation costs will be significantly minimized.
2) Direct creation of jobs: statistics show that, AT LEAST, for every 1 job in waste management there could be 4 jobs in the recycling industry instead.
3) Much smaller carbon footprint AND energy usage during production of materials. For example: If a soda company has the resources to produce aluminum cans from recycled material it will reduce its energy consumption by approximately 95%. For plastic bottles, recycling saves the company up to 70% in energy usage. Aluminum can be efficiently recycled to 100% of the material if done properly!
4) Divestment from landfills in place of the above:
with rising sea levels, the areas which are being landfilled will be the ones initially affected by the rising sea level...think future!
5) The more people recycle, the less companies have to spend to sell their products, and thus the less goods will cost.
6) Recycling encourages less littering which means a cleaner, more touristic T&T which in turn means more foreign currencies entering our twin islands.
7) If the country works together, meaning to say: government, leaders of different sectors, families, individuals, etc we truly do become one nation which is our motto...together we aspire, together we achieve.
#GreenHeartMission